A Mud & Bamboo Mountain Retreat in India

Filmmakers Raman Siddhartha and Manju Narayan returned to Dharamshala, India to build a sustainable homestay made of local mud, bamboo, and slate. To reach it, you have to leave your car behind and walk a stretch of narrow path.  Here’s how they created an off-grid haven rooted in tradition and community. “I’ve lived in London … Read more

Build Outside The Box Mastermind

The Build Outside The Box Mastermind course covers 17 different natural building techniques taught by high caliber teachers, and includes valuable resources such as workbooks and checklists. It also has a growing library of extra classes. You can find out what building style is best for your climate, budget, skill-level, and values. In today’s world, … Read more

Prefabricated Sustainable Homes in Canada

A Toronto-based company is selling a line of affordable, modular prefabricated home designs that meet and exceed net-zero standards. CABN lists designs ranging from 540 to 2,500 square feet and from one to four bedrooms. Standard features include: Forest Stewardship Council certified wood; Helical pile foundations that typically use no concrete and can be installed … Read more

Form Follows Love: Building by Intuition

Anna Heringer’s book Form Follows Love: Building by Intuition – from Bangladesh to Europe and beyond is a different approach to architecture where human relationships, local materials and knowledge, inform the creative process. Photographs depict buildings animated by everyday life, where human presence and social interaction take center stage, and the architecture gently recedes into … Read more

Tim Kring’s Adobe Roundhouse

I recently got this email from Tim Kring: “Hi Kelly, I built this round structure loosely around the round house studio plan.  The base wall is stabilized adobe using approximately 8% Portland cement and earth bag tubes from Cal earth. Once the wall was above knee high I switched to traditional Adobe block .  I … Read more